Look ma, no brain!

[vaneramos]

From April 23 to November 19 I filled 360 morning pages, 12 pages per week or four days' writing (I always fill exactly three pages). The most difficult part is maintaining attention. Frequently I'll unintentionally stop writing, my mind engaging in thoughts that never translate onto paper. The whole point of this exercise is to record what's on my mind, so I endeavour to keep the pen moving.

Today I noticed that while my hand writes, my thoughts still manage to escape elsewhere. Clearly, two parts of my brain were engaged at once. The writing was emotive, expressive, frequently incoherent, occasionally vivid and surprising. Meanwhile my brain would digress on matters of immediate concern, like baking cookies, money, going to the gym, or a man walking under my office window. I tried to catch those threads and transfer them to the page, but the writing would inevitably devolve into rambling nonsense, while my attention escaped once more like a migrant bird.

Surely others have observed this, but I seem to have developed the dubious skill of writing while thinking about something else. I'm intrigued by the interaction between these two separate theatres of consciousness, and intend to continue my study.

Comments

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

That's a good analogy. The problem is, verbal communication, spoken or written, requires rational thought, so what I experienced today was a frustrating tension, not very Zen-like. My hand was racing to keep up with my mind, and I felt resistance and boredom toward the mundane details that kept suggesting themselves. I might need to engage in a more meditative writing exercise, like repeating certain affirmations over and over, or filling the pages with random words, in order to resolve this. I have a hunch this might help me make some progress on my novel.

[missprune.livejournal.com]

You may be on the verge of doing automatic writing from a "spirit guide," watch out! Just think how profitable that could be!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't that be an interesting career development!

I actually did some of that as a teenager, but I recall the sensation being much different.

[djjo.livejournal.com]

This can also happening with knitting / spinning / weaving / other crafts. You hands and part of your brain are engaged in one activity, but the rest of your mind can wander.

It happens to me sometimes when I knit. I get into a rhythm, and I don't have to pay as much attention to what I'm doing. My mind then starts thinking about other things, and kinda churning through other problems. It can be very productive!

Do continue with it! Amazing things are going to come from it.

Hugs!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

When I started making the quilt six years ago, I only worked on it for a month or so. At the time I was terribly upset about things going on in my life, and when I sat down to sew, it left my mind free. I would start brooding, stewing and getting angry. I eventually had to leave off. I was better off playing computer games, which kept me distracted!

It was wonderful when I started knitting to realize I was okay letting my mind be free again, that a repetitive task could be relaxing. It was a clear measure of how far I had come.

The thing with writing is a little different, because I normally need to keep my mind engaged with what I'm writing. My attention can only wander because I've been doing morning pages for years and they've become almost automatic. So it will be interesting to see what I can discover by trying to reproduce what happened today and turning it into a kind of exercise.

[shadcub.livejournal.com]

it's a pretty cool skill. wish i could do that. and don't worry talents liike that are gifts and should be used whenever possible

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

The problem is, it feels like a huge struggle to get through the writing, not exactly relaxing, but I'm going to work on that.